How To Forgive
by Maggie Napier
Summary: After teasing Manjoume in front of his brothers, Judai convinces Rose to apologize for him, but it leads up to an argument that later tells Manjoume: who cares what others think of him? Rated T for strong language and mentions of sexual content.


**A story I made for my friend. It seems really rushed toward the end and it's really fluffy at the end, too, so that explains its crappiness.**

**Hope ya likes!**

**Xoxox,**

**Maggie**

He said the very words that made her want to _kill_ him.

"Get out of my life, Rose Smith! I hate _you_!"

Tears stung her eyes as she slammed the door, screaming, "I hate you even more, Jun Manjoume! Don't you _ever_ talk to me again!" It was only half true.

Her best friend was waiting for her. "Rose! Oh my God, what happened? What did he do? That asshole's gonna get it!"

The tears were streaming now. "He hates me Maggie! He never wants to see me again!" she lamented.

Judai Yuki, Maggie's boyfriend, approached them.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She tried to apologize for you," Maggie replied. "Now Manjoume-kun doesn't want to see her again." She rubbed Rose's back reassuringly.

"God, it's all my fault." Judai massaged his temples. "I _never_ should have sent you. I'm such a damn coward!"

"Judai, it's not your fault," said Maggie. "Well, maybe it is."

"Way to be supportive, Mags," Rose laughed through her tears.

"But what made Manjoume-kun hate you when you were apologizing for Judai?" Maggie asked.

"Long story," Rose sniffed. "But I'll explain."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 minutes ago…

Rose rapped on Manjoume's door.

"Enter!" he called from inside.

She opened the door. "Konnichi wa, Manjoume-kun," she greeted, blushing and bowing.

He did the same. "Hi," he replied.

"Manjoume-kun," Rose started, enjoying the way the syllables of his name danced on her tongue. "I want to talk to you."

Manjoume sat on a nearby chair. "Sit," he said, gesturing to the one across from him.

Rose sat. "It's about Judai," she explained.

"Tell him he can suck it."

She ignored the comment. "He wants to apologize for teasing you in front of your brothers. He wants to know if you forgive him."

"I don't. How pathetic. He sent _you_ to do his dirty work. What a coward. He can go screw himself."

Rose laughed. "He doesn't have to. He can screw Maggie. I'm _sure_ she won't mind."

This made Manjoume chuckle. "True. How long has she been dropping hints?"

"When she hiked her skirt up and wore purple fishnets that went up to her thighs with black pumps."

"Of course." Manjoume rolled his eyes. "At least Judai had his eyes on her and not Asuka."

"You _still_ like her?"

"_Yes_. And someone else, but that's a different story."

"Ahem," Rose cleared her throat. "Anyways, back to the situation concerning Judai. Let's consider this: What if it was _me_ who teased you in front of your brothers? Would you forgive _me_?"

"No," he answered cold-heartedly.

"Manjoume-kun. Seriously."

"No."

"No?"

"_No_. It's as clear as _freaking_ day. I wouldn't forgive you."

"God, Manjoume-kun, you're so shallow!"

"_I'm_ merely stating the truth. I wouldn't forgive you, Fubuki, Misawa, Momoe, Junko, Ryo, Sho, Maggie, even Asuka, and _especially_ not Judai!"

"Well at least now I know why your hair's so big, Manjoume-kun! It's full of your ego!"

"You _just_ figured that out? It's true what Ryo and Fubuki say about American blondes. They really _are_ dumb."

"You ass! I'd rather be stupid than self-centered!"

"Oh, ho ho!" he laughed sarcastically. "_I_ may be self-centered, but _you're_ such a _bitch_!"

"A _bitch_?"

"Yeah, a bitch. Wanna put in your two cents again?"

"How about two words? _FUCK YOU_!!"

Manjoume was taken back, aghast. Rose _never_ got this angry. But he was angrier.

"Fuck _me_?" he retorted. "Someone should fuck _you_! At least _I'm _not a virgin!"

"You take that back, Jun Manjoume. _Right now_."

"I take nothing back! I'm _rich_!"

"_Ohh_, so you're a self-centered shallow _rich_ non-virgin asshole, then?"

"Yes I am. Deal with it."

"I'm not going to! I'm leaving!"

"_Good_!"

"But _I'm_ not taking back everything I said either. Fuck you, fuck your entire family, and I'll say it again: _FUCK YOU, JUN MANJOUME_!! I hate you!"

"Get out of my life, Rose Smith! I hate _you_!"

"I hate you even more, Jun Manjoume! Don't you _ever_ talk to me again!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Intense," said Maggie.

"Ugh!" grunted Judai. "I actually thought he would forgive me! I'm so stupid!"

"You know what? I'm gonna go in there and teach Manjoume-kun a few lessons for hurting my best friend," Maggie said, stomping toward Manjoume's private suite. "And for making fun of me," she added.

"But… I made fun of you first," Rose confirmed.

"Yeah, _but_, I forgive you, 'cause you're my friend. I'll admit, I'm the skankiest slut here at D.A., but at least I _know_ it," Maggie said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You're also the cutest skankiest slut in the world," put in Judai.

"Aw, Judai, that's so sweet!" Maggie pecked him on the cheek. "Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah, I was going to kick Manjoume-kun's ass."

"Maggie, _don't_," pleaded Rose. "You'll only make things worse."

"Fine," Maggie huffed. "Only because you said so and you're depressed at the moment. C'mon, let's snack at my dorm. I'll sneak you guys in."

"Yay!" cried Rose. "Mango mocchi!"

"Yay!" cried Judai. "Actual food!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asuka was surprised to see Judai _and_ Rose back at Maggie's dorm. Usually it was only Judai who would come over on occasion when Maggie needed "dueling tutoring".

"Another Way To Die" by Jack White and Alicia Keys blared in the background from Maggie's iHome. Asuka knocked on her roommate's door.

"It's open!" said Maggie.

Asuka opened the door. "Hi, you guys. What's up?"

"Rose had a mental breakdown," Judai explained.

"It was Manjoume-kun's fault," put in Maggie.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "_Naturally_," she said. "I'm just telling you I'm going to the hot spring with Moemoe and Junko, so I'm going to get my stuff and go. 'Bye then!"

"'Bye!" Maggie, Rose, and Judai chorused.

"_And someone you can think that you can trust is just another way to di-ie_!" sang Maggie. "That line is so you, Rose."

Rose sighed. "I know," she said. "God, life sucks!"

"You have such a beautiful singing voice, Maggie," complimented Judai.

"Aw, thanks! So do you!" replied Maggie.

"Um, hello? Crisis mode for _moi_, you know," said Rose. "No time to get all lovey-dovey!"

"Hey, at least we're not Sho and Momoe," Maggie retorted. "They call each other 'Pookey Bear' and 'Cutie Pie'."

"But which one is Sho?" Judai joked. Maggie and Rose cracked up.

"Nice, Judai," laughed Maggie, wiping a tear. "That made my day."

"Me too," Rose agreed. She hugged him. "Thanks."

"No problem," Judai replied. "Just doing my job."

"This is why I love him," said Maggie, playing with her boyfriend's hair. "He's so cute and funny—"

"And stupid, too!" shouted Asuka from her room.

"Sorry, but no one asked you, 'Suk!" Maggie shouted back. "And he's not _that_ stupid."

"Gee, thanks, Mags," said Judai sarcastically. "That made _my_ day."

"Hey, just being honest," Maggie shrugged. "You're lucky enough to be dating an American girl."

"Yeah, you're right," replied Judai, stealing a kiss from his girlfriend. Rose rolled her eyes and bit out of the last mango mocchi.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose left Maggie's dorm at 8:00 without Judai. She left the couple alone to do God-knows-what, most likely a make-out session, since Maggie _never_ wanted to go further, Rose knew that for a fact. Maggie was very self-conscious about her weight, even though she only had a little baby fat on her stomach. She had great legs, though, and a nice, clear face. What Rose had noticed was that Maggie always doubted her physical appearance whenever Asuka was nearby. And Rose couldn't blame her; Asuka was the Barbie doll of Japan. She had platinum blond hair, hazel eyes, a clearer face than Maggie's, a towering height of 5'10", and a body like an hourglass (complete with 36DD implants). Her worst feature was her long legs, even though she showed them off a _lot_. Stepping onto a dirt path toward the Osiris dorm, Rose realized that Asuka's worst feature was Maggie's _best_ feature, which gained Maggie some Judai points since she was also pretty.

_I guess I got pretty, too, before I came to D.A._, thought Rose. During her last semester at middle school, Rose decided to change her physical appearance. To do so, she starved to lose weight (she went from a size 12 at 160 pounds to a size 0 at 101 pounds in nine months), changed her wardrobe (basically all Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister), took better care of her hair (blond highlights and a _lot_ of straightening), and skin (thank you Proactiv and Neutrogena Skin ID!), got new glasses (awesome funky plastic frames from Nicole Miller), and wore makeup (MAC, not Maybelline). After the change, the boys from D.A. _flocked_ Rose. No boy did that at middle school. Even the cute boys, like Fubuki Tenjoin and Taiyou Torimaki (A/N: that's Chazz's country crony in the dubbed series) had a crush on her. She was pretty, skinny, _and_ smart (in everything other than dueling, that is, which is why Rose was in the Osiris dorm). But Rose didn't want Fubuki or Torimaki. She wanted Jun Manjoume. The rich one. The cute, emo one. The most unavailable guy at Duel Academia.

Rose and Manjoume _were_ getting along. That is, until their argument earlier today. Saddened by the trauma of it all, Rose walked with her head down for the rest of the way to her dorm.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose hadn't even sat down in the single chair that occupied a small fraction of her room before someone knocked on the door.

It was probably Dylan, one of her roommates.

"It's open!" she called.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't Dylan.

It was Manjoume.

It was the one person Rose didn't want to see.

"Konnichi wa, Rose," he greeted, bowing.

She did the same, only somewhat coldly. "Konnichi wa, Manjoume-kun."

"I come in peace," he said, starting to walk in.

"Well I don't want to talk to you," she said with the same tone of iciness in her voice. "Go _away_, Jun."

"It's Manjoume, Manjoume-chan, Manjoume-kun, Manjoume Thunder-chan, or Manjoume San Da," he corrected. "Pretty much anything but Jun."

"I prefer Jun, " she replied, trying to annoy him. "Get out." She started opening the door.

"Whatever, Rose," he said, trying not to start another argument. "But I won't stop until I can talk to you. It's just a warning you should take into consideration."

Rose scowled and slammed the door in his face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manjoume kept the entire Osiris dorm awake.

How, you ask?

He put a boom box over his head and played "Come Back To Me" by American artist Vanessa Hudgens on repeat, _loudly_ (A/N: IDK why I put that song in, probably because it was the only one I could think of at the time. Also, it's one of my friend's favorite songs). To add on to his stupidity, Manjoume sang along in _English_ (A/N: They're supposed to be talking in Japanese except where I say they talk in English, in case if you were confused), to Rose's surprise, horribly.

It was so bad that Samejima came down to try and stop him. Manjoume replied by saying that he wouldn't stop until Rose would talk to him.

Judai, who had left a little earlier, came back to the scene with Maggie, Asuka, Junko, who was Fubuki's girlfriend, and Momoe, Sho's girlfriend.

Sho came out to greet Momoe with a hello kiss, crying, "Cutie Pie!"

Momoe replied, "Pookey Bear!"

"Well, that answers that question," Maggie whispered to Judai, who cracked up.

Samejima came armed with a megaphone. "Rose!" he yelled. "Just talk to him!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rose was bawling, with Dylan to comfort her. Rei tossed and turned, trying to sleep.

"Why is he going so far?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. But he's in for it if I don't get any sleep tonight," Dylan replied.

They heard Samejima's pleading cry.

"_Go_," hissed Dylan. "If Samejima wants you to, I'd do it."

"I don't know!" cried Rose. "I look like crap!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose still wasn't coming down. That bothered Maggie.

She said to Judai, "Either she's getting ready, or she's trying to figure out what to do."

"I'd go with the second option," Judai replied.

"Yeah, you're right." Maggie grabbed Judai's hand. "C'mon, we're going in and singing with Manjoume-chan," she said.

Judai yanked back. "But it's a girl's song," he pointed out.

"I _know_, but we'll do the harmony. I taught you English, _and_ I taught you the song. You have no excuse."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine," he agreed. "But you owe me _big_ time."

"I know." Maggie smiled. "I'll do you a favor when I lose four pounds."

They walked up to Manjoume. "Manjoume-chan!" yelled Maggie over the music. "We want to help! We'll sing with you!"

"Are you crazy!" he replied. "_No_!"

"I want Rose to come out just as much as you do, Manjoume-chan!" replied Maggie.

"_Fine_!" he agreed. "I'll let you join in!"

The song started over again. This time, Maggie grabbed Judai's hand and they joined in.

"What the hell are they doing?" Samejima demanded.

"I have _no_ idea!" Asuka replied, rolling her eyes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose looked up. She _knew_ the voices that joined into the harmony.

"_Baby, come back to me_

_In my heart I still believe_

_We were meant to be_

_Together, so whatever it takes._"

Maggie and Judai.

"_Baby, come back to me_

_I should have never set you free_

_My baby_

_Come \back_!"

"What?" asked Dylan, knowing the change in Rose's face.

"I have to talk to Manjoume-kun!" cried Rose.

"Uh, not like _that_, you're not." Dylan stood up. "Get dressed, and put on some makeup."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose came out of the Osiris dorm in the ensemble of a black tank turtleneck and ripped up Hollister jeans with black flip-flops. Her hair was down and straightened, and she wore grey eye shadow, blue liner, and gloss.

Manjoume paused the track and placed the boom box down. Maggie and Judai stopped singing.

"Rose," Manjoume said, "I'm sorry. I _would_ forgive you. And Judai, I forgive you, too."

Judai hugged Manjoume. "Well thank God!" he exclaimed, and then he pecked his friend on the cheek.

"You sicko!" Manjoume protested, pushing Judai off of him.

"Hey, that's how I thank everyone," Judai shrugged. "Everyone that is, except for my girlfriend." He pulled Maggie over, dipped her, and kissed her.

"Aw!" wooed the growing crowd.

"I love you, Judai!" exclaimed Maggie when they parted.

"Ditto, Mags," Judai replied with a killer smile.

Manjoume looked over at the girl he had been waiting for. "Will you forgive me, Rose?" he asked.

Before Rose could answer, Manjoume pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"Manjoume-kun…" Rose started. "I… I _do_ forgive you!" She kissed him this time. "And I love you, Manjoume!"

Manjoume lifted all 101 lbs. of Rose and twirled her. "I love you, too, Rose-chan!" he exclaimed.

"I love you more!" Rose protested when she touched ground.

Samejima decided to call it quits and he let the students do what they pleased.

As soon as he left, Fubuki, Ryo, and Misawa came to check out the scene. Fubuki reunited with Junko and Ryo ran up to Asuka. Misawa surveyed, ignored as usual.

Rose, trapped in Manjoume's arms, looked over to see everyone in couples (except for Misawa, who _still_ hadn't gotten with anyone yet, and Dylan, who was most likely sleeping). The funny thing was, there was no music playing, yet every couple was dancing. Ryo and Asuka waltzed in perfect synch. Fubuki and Junko tangoed cheek-to-cheek. Sho was so short that Momoe had to dip _him_, but she didn't seem to mind, since a huge smile was plastered on her face. Judai had his arms wrapped around Maggie's waist, and Maggie's around Judai's neck. They moved in slow rhythm, whispering, smiling, and kissing, without moving so much as an inch away from each other.

_And I'm with who I _wanted _to be with_, thought Rose, smiling in her new boyfriend's arms. Above her, she could have sworn the smoke erupting from the volcano behind the school made hearts.

**Told ya it was rushed at the end! But, my friend said she liked it, and that's all right with me! Oh well!**

**Laters!**

**Xoxox,**

**Maggie**


End file.
